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Sindy the doll we love to dress

Mary Poppins Sindy and other Mary Poppins Dolls

"Mary Poppins was very vain and liked to look her best.
Indeed, she was quite sure that she never looked anything else."
Mary Poppins (1934) by Pamela Lyndon Travers, OBE

Walt Disney's famous Mary Poppins film was based on the novels of Australian-British writer P.L. Travers and was a mixture of live action and animation. It was released in 1964 and it was a huge success and was nominated for thirteen oscars at the 37th Academy Awards in 1965, winning five, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews. Merchandising was extensive including crockery, games, puzzles, brunch bags, money boxes, paper dolls and photo albums. Several companies were licensed to produce Mary Poppins 12" teenage fashion dolls across the world. Two of these dolls, in Australia and New Zealand, used Sindy as Mary.


This page will show the four Mary Poppins teenage dolls from the 1960s that we know of:

  • New Zealand's Line Bros (NZ) Ltd Mary Poppins
  • Australia's Tuff Toys Mary Poppins
  • America's Horsman Dolls Inc. Mary Poppins, and
  • Canada's Reliable Toy Co. Limited Mary Poppins.
Perhaps somewhat suprisingly, the U.K. did not have a comparable doll.

The 'Sindy' Mary Poppins

1965 Sindy Dolls

Before we talk about the Sindy Mary Poppins dolls, it should be borne in mind that at this time Australia and New Zealand had very different Sindys to those found here in the UK. In the United Kingdom Sindy Dolls were being manufactured at the Merton factory in South London, England. But according to David Fear who was the Pedigree Product Manager at the time, there was an overlap of some 18 months where Sindys were made in both Merton, England and in Hong Kong (12S Magazine, edn Number 6, page 9).

In Australia, it made more commercial sense to import Sindy dolls straight from Hong Kong right from the beginning in 1964, rather than ship them over from England. The demand for Sindy dolls was enormous and it is likely that some of these Hong Kong Sindy dolls also ended up in the European market to makeup order shortfalls that could not be completely fulfilled by the Merton factory.

In New Zealand, dolls were partly manufactured in New Zealand with some parts imported from the Hong Kong factories and assembled locally to comply with New Zealand’s Market Protection Policies.

So, for reference here is a short summary of the usual Sindy dolls that could be found in each country in 1965 which is when we see the Sindy Mary Poppins. The list below excludes the Mini Sindys which are also 1965 dolls and were made in Hong Kong.

Australia (and possibly Europe)

Made in Hong Kong on back, no head markings with bending vinyl legs. Both normal size and very hard small heads were sold on full size bodies.

New Zealand

No markings on head or body with bending vinyl legs. Both normal size and very hard small heads were sold on full size bodies. Torso may be yellow in colour.

United Kingdom (and Europe)

Made in England on head, no body markings with bending vinyl legs.

New Zealand's Sindy Mary Poppins


Mary Poppins in the 1966 Tri-ang New Zealand catalogue.

In New Zealand, Lines Bros (NZ) Ltd were the sole licensee to produce Mary Poppins dolls, and in 1965 Sindy took the lead role in "Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins Complete with Working Dress and Apron by Pedigree". Although there is no mention of Sindy on the packaging, these dolls were standard New Zealand Sindy dolls.  They have no markings on the hard vinyl head or the body and have the firm vinyl arms and legs with internal wire armature that allows them to be posed, although over time, the vinyl often hardens so the limbs no longer bend. The doll’s torso is often more yellow in colour than pink.

Both Sindys shown above are hard heads and you can also see the lack of markings on the back of the neck.
So far we have found these Marys with blonde, light brown, chestnut brown and very dark brunette/black hair.
They have the early 1960s Sindy short hair cut, the hair is pulled up into a stylised bun, and some are still wearing the red Sindy Alice band.

This Mary Poppins had an outfit which consisted of a long white and dark blue striped cotton work dress with lace trim at the neck and cuffs, a white cotton bib apron with red printed ‘Mary Poppins’ logo on the bib, black sheer Sindy nylon stockings, black plastic shoes with bow detail, a dark blue felt coat with two blue buttons at the front, a blue flocked hard plastic hat decorated with a small bunch of plastic flowers and held under the bun with elastic, and a carpet bag with gold handles. 


Also included was her cotton travelling dress with a white bodice and long mauve skirt. It was trimmed at the neck with lace and was decorated with pink velvet ribbon with pearl stud. The doll wore white panties. 


We believe this fashion to be the same as some first issue Mary Poppins dolls by the US company Horsman Dolls Inc (see more below).

According to the advert Mary came wearing her sleeveless, cotton "travelling dress" with a white bodice and long mauve skirt. It was trimmed at the neck with lace and was decorated with pink velvet ribbon with pearl stud. It fastened at the back with two white buttons. Variations of the velvet ribbon have been spotted and we have seen this dress with a much paler pink velvet ribbon.

The New Zealand Mary Poppins hat was hard to the touch and was made of flocked blue plastic. It was decorated with a bunch of coloured plastic flowers. It had a hat strap which could be tucked under her hair bun at the back.




Mary's travelling bag was a woven carpet bag with brass ring handles which was attached to the bag with an embossed gold tape made of plastic. Attached to the tape was a metal stud fastener to close the bag and at the base was a cardboard rectangle to shape the bag.

Most Marys we have seen are wearing their striped work dress and bib apron. The long-sleeved dress fastened at the back with two white buttons. The apron was printed "Mary Poppins" on the bib and fastened at the back of the neck with one white button, and at the back of the waist with the sewn-on satin ribbon belt.

As noted above, the advert suggests that she was sold wearing her travelling dress and that her working dress and apron were tucked into the box with her.

There appears to be two types of black shoes found with the boxed Sindy Mary Poppins. Shown above left are a pair of hard plastic flat shoes with a moulded bow detail and shown above right Sindy's 1960s black lace-ups. We would be grateful to know what shoes came with any other New Zealand Mary Poppins found in their boxes or known to be with orginal outfits.

These dolls were packaged in a cardboard tray with cellophane wrap, and as noted above there is no mention of Sindy on the packaging. They are highly sought after but are difficult to find, especially in good condition.  While a few mint examples are known, we are yet to see one completely Never Removed From Box (NRFB) with the cellophane still in place.  We would love to hear from anyone who has a NRFB example or can offer any further information on these dolls.

Australia's Sindy Mary Poppins

In Australia, another Mary Poppins doll that bears a striking resemblance to Sindy has been found, and she remains largely a mystery. 

As yet no advert for this Australian Mary Poppins has been found. The closest advert is the one shown left which is from the Australian trade publication 'The Retailer' published in May 1965.

Although this advert shows soft bodied Mary Poppins dolls, the outfit is remarkably similar to that worn by the Australian Mary, and we believe there was some kind of corporate relationship between Joy Toys and Mary's manufacturer (see below). In turn, the striped dress and distinctive 'umbrella apron' can also be found on the US Gund Mary Poppins Hand Puppet from 1964, pointing perhaps to a similar licensing agreement with Disney.

It is unknown as to when the Australian Mary was released, but this doll has a hollow plastic body marked Made in Hong Kong on the lower back and non-bending hollow plastic legs with side seams. This is the same body as the first Hong Kong made Sindys sold in Australia in 1964. Her head has similarities too. She has a similar, small hard head of the 1965 New Zealand Mary Poppins with high colour face paint.

Given that this advert highlights a new release, we have speculated that the Australian Mary could also be a 1965 release but we accept she could be earlier or indeed later.

The only thing to set this doll apart from other Sindy dolls of the time is her long, centre parted, very dark brown hair. 

The hair is rooted only around the sides of the head and on mint dolls, is wound up into a neat low bun. 

The doll wears a long red and off-white striped short sleeved dress and an off-white apron with the words "Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins" inside an umbrella printed in red on the apron skirt. The neck and sleeves of the dress were finished with a matching cotton binding and it fastened at the back with two metal snap fasteners. The apron fastened simply at the back of the waist with a bowline knot. Black Sindy sheer stockings and black Sindy lace-up shoes completed the outfit.

We first showed this enigmatic Sindy (left) who was kindly donated by Robynne Miller in May 2011. But, we had no idea who she was apart from she had a Sindy head and wore an outfit saying she was Mary Poppins.

Coincidently, Australian doll collector Jennifer B had also been trying to identify this doll for many years.

As the red and off-white colour scheme and the umbrella logo were similar to those used on larger 1965 Mary Poppins soft dolls by the Australian company Joy Toys, which was part owned by Cyclops Lines Bros. Pty Ltd (Lines was Pedigree doll’s parent company), Jennifer speculated the doll may have been released by one of these companies.  It wasn’t until she featured the doll on her blog in 2019, that Michelle K came forward with a doll in original packaging. A simple plastic bag with cardboard top, which listed the manufacturer as Tuff Toys.
This doll looks like a rack toy doll (albeit quite a pricey one), and as you can see the packaging shows both pre and post decimalisation prices which took place in Australia on February 14th 1966. 

Not very much is known about Tuff Toys. Fellow collector Kaye Tellefson was able to provide some information on Tuff Toys from the CD book ‘Australian Dolls: Yesterday and Today’ (ISBN 13: 9780646434698) by Marjory Fainges, which states that Tuff Toys shared an address with Joy Toys (who produced the soft doll Mary Poppins shown in the advert above). Luke Jones, an Australian toy collector, helped by noting that Joy Toys and Tuff Toys would often share stands at various Toy Fair events in the 1960s, as pictured in Marjorie's book. Therefore, it is possible the two toy companies were affiliated, sharing the dress design and perhaps the licensing for the Australian Sindy Mary Poppins.

Jennifer has been unable to find any further information but is still researching. These dolls are quite hard to find. If you have any information on this doll or on Tuff Toys we’d love to hear from you.

America's Mary Poppins

Horsman Mary Poppins shown in the May 1965 issue of 'Playthings'

Looking quite different to Sindy, the US Horsman Dolls Inc company produced a series of Mary Poppins dolls from 1964 to 1969 and she was reissued again in 1973. Of a similar proportion to Sindy, her 1960s body and legs are hard hollow plastic and her arms are a soft vinyl. These dolls are generally marked with an ‘H’ on the back of their heads. Mary's head is quite soft and she has pursed coral red lips and pale blue side-glance eyes.

Horsman Mary's face with her hair styled so you can see her features.
Horsman Mary's hair is rooted around the sides of the head and along the centre parting.
Normally her long, straight brown hair is pulled back into a basic bun,
usually at the back of the neck with her hair framing her face and covering her ears.
The bun is pinned with four metal bobby pins.
The Horsman Mary Poppins had a much longer lifespan than the other Marys and so there were several Mary Poppins issues and we have seen variations within these, including for example dolls with fringes (bangs), slightly different face molds and flesh tints and different lipstick colours.

The most common doll seems to be the single doll in the travelling dress and coat.

We believe that the very early dolls wore the same fashion as the New Zealand Mary Poppins doll: the travelling dress with white bodice and mauve skirt and a pale pink velvet ribbon at the neck with pearl stud, a dark blue coat with two buttons at the front, a blue flocked hard plastic hat decorated with a small bunch of plastic flowers and held under the bun with elastic and the woven carpet bag with brass gold handles. She wore white nylon panties trimmed with lace around the legs.

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However, instead of black nylon stockings and flat black shoes, she wore black knitted ribbed stockings and black plastic boots with three bows down the front.

In addition, she had a pink plastic umbrella with a grey/blue plastic ruffle frill and white wooden handle. The umbrella could really open with the aid of a plastic runner and metal stretchers which opened out the canopy.

It is possible that the New Zealand Mary Poppins and the first Horsman Mary Poppins had outfits made in part by the same factory. Again, David Fear notes that the Hong Kong factories Pedigree used were manufacturing for a number of different companies (12S Magazine, edn Number 6, page 9).

However, that early version of the outfit seems to be harder to find; the more common version, which is shown above, is the travelling dress with white bodice and mauve skirt, with a lilac or pink velvet ribbon stitched at the neck without the pearl, a mid-blue coat with two buttons at the front and a blue felt hat decorated with a small bunch of fabric flowers and held under the bun with elastic (shown right).


She still came with the woven patterned carpet bag with brass gold handles, the pink plastic working umbrella with a grey/blue plastic ruffle frill and white wooden handle, the black knitted ribbed stockings and black boots with three molded bows down the front. She also wore white nylon panties trimmed with lace around the legs.

As shown in the advert above, a doll in the same fashion appeared in a wardrobe giftset with additional outfits from 1965. These were the blue striped working dress with lace trim at the neck and cuffs (described by Horsman as a "nurse dress") and the white bib apron with red printed ‘Mary Poppins’ logo on the bib seen with the NZ Sindy Mary.

A new addition was a white satin 'Jolly Holiday' dress (called a "party dress" by Horsman). This pretty long-sleeved floor-length dress had a deep pink velveteen bodice at the front and a deep ruffle hem decorated with three matching pink velveteen flowers sewn onto the dress with shiny metallic green buttons. The neck, sleeves and bottom of the dress were trimmed with white nylon lace, and the same lace was used to create a lace frill on the front of Mary's chest which was also decorated with a shiny metallic green button. The dress opened down the back where it fastened with two buttons at the neck and waist.

Complimenting the Jolly Holiday dress was a white open-weave 'straw' hat (called a "Party Bonnet") with a matching pink velvet and shiny metallic green button flower decoration and white netting which tied under the chin.

Also included were a pair of white plastic gloves (similar to those used by Vogue's Ginny doll), nude nylon stockings and white court shoes with a molded bow decorating the shoebox. There was also a small tape measure (called a "ruler" by Horsman).
A 1965 Wardrobe Giftset
A 1966 Wardrobe Giftset
There are many variations of the gift set. There is also a lovely deviation of the 'Jolly Holiday' dress where the pink velvet flowers on the dress are replaced with velvet ribbon, and on the hat by smaller bunches of flowers. This version had a straight skirt. We have also seen variations in the colour of the striped working dress from very pale aqua to dark blue, and there seems to be several versions of the apron: a lower neckline, ribbon trim at the neck, and variations in the size of the logo print.  The colour of the coat and umbrella may vary also. 
Another interesting wardrobe gift set from 1965 uses white flowers on the travelling blue felt hat, a blue flowered carpet bag with gold handles, a darker blue and white striped working dress, 'Jolly Holiday' satin dress and matching hat, white gloves but with a very pretty translucent mauve-blue and pink ruffle umbrella.

Additionally, in this version there were white knitted stockings and white boots with molded bows, instead of nylons and white court shoes.

Mary was also packaged with just this 'Jolly Holiday' outfit with her white satin and velveteen flower trim dress, white straw hat with pink velvet flower decoration, white knitted stockings and boots, and the pretty mauve-blue and pink ruffle umbrella.

In 1966 another giftset was issued which saw Mary in her 'travelling' dress and coat outfit and which included her small charges, Jane and Michael Banks.  Michael wears black velvet shorts with gold button, yellow shirt with white collar and mauve tie with gold button, white socks and black shoes. Jane wears a pink dress with mauve lace trim and purple velvet belt, white socks, white shoes and purple hair ribbon.  Jane and Michael were also sold without the Mary Poppins doll.

A single doll in outdoor dress and the giftset with additional outfits were reissued for a Horsman 50th Anniversary in 1973. This time the doll had stiffer arms, had paler pink lips and her hair was loose.  The travelling dress no longer had a ribbon tie and both dress and coat are tagged made in Taiwan. The hat was now decorated with a single large pink flower (dark pink and light pink versions can be found) and lacked an elastic band. The umbrella was now made from cardboard. The carpet bag attached to the doll's wrist by black elastic instead of gold brass rings.

In the giftset, the working dress has wider, sharper turquoise blue stripes and the sleeves were sewn on the diagonal and without lace on the ends of the sleeves. The apron is now trimmed in red stitching. The bodice and flowers of the Jolly Holiday dress are either a deep or very pale pink, and the green buttons on the dress and hat are not the same shiny metallic looking ones as used in the 1960s.
One of the most striking aspects of the Horsman Mary Poppins is the sheer number of variations. This is not unsurprising given that she was hugely popular and was made for a number of years. If you are a doll collector who enjoys collecting variations, then the Horsman Mary Poppins maybe just the girl for you. Shown below is a wide range of this Mary's variations.

Panties, stockings and footwear

Carpet Bags and Umbrellas

Travelling hats and Jolly Holiday hats (Party Bonnets)

Travelling Coats

Travelling Dresses

Working (Nurse) dresses and Aprons

Jolly Holiday (Party) Dresses and Hats (Party Bonnets)

Canada's Mary Poppins

Reliable Dolls Catalogue 1967

Canada also had a Mary Poppins doll made by the Reliable Toy Company Limited of Toronto, Canada. This doll shares a face sculpt with Tammy, and is very similar to Sindy.  She is colloquially known as the ‘Tammy Mary Poppins’. This Mary Poppins appears to have been issued slightly later in 1966/67.

Mary's head is unmarked, with long black hair wound up into a bun. 
Similarly to the Australian Mary Poppins, her hair is rooted only around the sides of the head and wound up into a bun.
She has a hard hollow body marked on the back with ‘Reliable’ in an oval cartouche with “Canada” underneath, and hollow plastic legs. 

She was sold wearing an ankle length, sleeveless, red cotton dress with a red embroidery thread trim around the neck and armholes. It fastened at the back with two large white metal open backed fasteners. Over her dress she wore a mid-length dark collarless blue coat lined at the front with red cotton and which fastened with one red button. Around her neck she wore a white nylon net scarf woven with a flower motif.   


For her head, she wore a soft blue cotton hat with an attached elasticated pleated brim. Her hat was decorated with red gosgrain bow and a bunch of red fabric flowers at the front with the same netting as her scarf stitiched into a large bow at the back.


For her feet she wore short white plastic molded ankle button boots.

A red fabric dolly bag with a silk cord handle and a stylised red plastic umbrella with a handle and wrist loop completes the fashion.
This doll has also been purchased carrying the molded plastic umbrella in black.
A variation with a grey coat and hat over the red dress has also been found.
As shown on the page from the 1967 Reliable Dolls Catalogue above, another boxed Mary could be purchased wearing a version of the Jolly Holiday outfit. It consisted of a long red and white polka dot dress with a red belt and red bows at the hem. It had a matching hat decorated with a bunch of red flowers and tied under the chin with white netting. This outfit came with white short ankle boots, a red fabric dolly bag and a red plastic umbrella.

Also seen in the 1967 Reliable Dolls Catalogue is a version of this Mary Poppins with an extra blue and white gingham work dress and a white bib apron. The neck and sleeves of the day dress were trimmed with lace, as were the neck and hem of the apron.

 

Lastly, we have seen in a 1967 Simpson-Sears catalogue a Mary Poppins with both her Jolly Holiday red and white dress and hat, and her blue and white gingham work dress and apron as extra outfits.


Unfortunately we don't have these dolls to show you and we would be grateful to hear from anyone who has these dolls and/or outfits who would be willing to show them in the museum.

 

Canadian Mary is harder to find than the US Horsman Mary, but does come up for sale in online auction sites from time to time.

Our Sindy Museum would like to thank Jennifer and Martha for their wonderful help and dedication in updating this page.

With continuing thanks to our original donor for their information & photos of the NZ Mary boxed doll who wished to remain anonymous, and to Robynne for our first glimpse of the Australian Mary back in 2011.

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